Do-Attitudes and Be-Attitudes (Part 2)

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

Matthew 5:13-16

Just as the blessings declared by Moses were natural, the curses declared by Moses were also natural, but it's the preconditions that are of particular interest here. The precondition cited in Deuteronomy 11:16 is infidelity to Yaweh, specifically by following other gods. This is the context where the curses would be manifested. These idols would be the source of evil influence on his people.

With this in mind, Jesus warns of these new curses by bringing out the metaphor of salt and light. For salt is easily diluted. But it also is used to bring out or enhance the flavor of whatever it comes in contact with. It's a very similar message that Moses declared – if we allow the influences of this world (ie. idols) to dilute you, we will be trampled underfoot. Cursed. But if we remain faithful to God we will stand out from those around us, and we will be blessed. We will even enhance (change) the flavors of those around us. And finally, we will overcome the darkness with an outstanding light.

We must follow the Lord with no regard to how the story pans out, for that part is always his doing and we can trust that it's always good. And in doing so, we will radically stand out for the world to behold and know that Yaweh is so very good in our lives.

Israel's Anthem

come all to Him
who struggle with Jah
and you will be satisfied
come all you who reside
hostage-prisoners to questions
questions laid hold of your heel
for now in Him your ransom is revealed

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Immanuel has come to you, o Israel!

- revel8r 12-23-17

Do-Attitudes and Be-Attitudes

See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse

Deuteronomy 11:26

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:3

Moses proclaimed that he was presenting them with blessings and curses – blessings contingent on fidelity through obedience and curses upon infidelity through allowing other gods into their lives.  These blessings and curses were to be declared on two mountains – Mount Gerazim and Mount Ebal about 18 miles into the heart of the Promised Land (Israel) after crossing the Jordan.  After they had seen the hand of Yaweh working before their eyes by expelling tribes much stronger than their motley crew of refugees.

In the same way, Jesus (our second Moses) called his first disciples.  They immediately followed him, and upon doing so he began healing people and casting out demons.  After this, he withdrew with his disciples and began teaching them by declaring blessings over them, for it was they who had  followed him and crossed over into the great unknown before he had shown them his wonders.  Now he was declaring these blessings to this new Israel.

But these blessings stand in a stark difference to the blessings of Moses' address.  The blessings cited by Moses were natural blessings: health, prosperity and victory.  Rather the blessings cited by Jesus are unnatural and spiritual: comfort, inheritance, beholding God, etc.  And what's more, the preconditions for the blessings are different.  Those cited by Moses are obedience to laws - “do-attitudes”.  These were the ways to show fidelity, even love to Yaweh.  But Jesus came with a different set of conditions – the “be-attitudes”.

To mourn, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to be pure in heart, etc. – all of these are states of the soul that lead to the Kingdom blessings.  And they are eternal - much more intangible and difficult to achieve, making our need for him inescapable.

Avail yourself to allow Jesus to change your soul, that you can be of a Kingdom attitude.  Once you do so, he will do mighty things that will bring you to a place of eternal, supernatural blessing.

Overcome

"But take heart! I have overcome the world."
- John 16:33

Jesus Christ spoke these words before he rose from the dead.  Before the veil was rent.  Before he endured the cross.  Before he prayed through the final test in the garden of Gethsemane.  His passion for us empowered him to prophesy His own victory over this cesspool of a world.

By that same absolute victory, we too are empowered to overcome.  Whatever it is we endure, His victory over the world doesn’t just enable us to overcome all trials.  It gives us the triumphant stance to overcome.
And that is the end game.  Living in Him as more than conquerors is why we live our lives this side of the veil.  As His own we are called, even destined, to display His victory over this present darkness.

How the overcoming manifests itself is up to His sovereignty.  It’s not about the healings.  Its not about the miracles or the prophesies.  To be sure, they are very real, tangibly relevant and gloriously testimonial to His saving power.  But truly it’s ultimately about His children walking victorious over death, disease or any kind of inglorious circumstance.

Loving Vincent - Desperate to Connect in a Disconnected World

Last Sunday, Beverly and I went to see a movie that was a breath of creatively fresh air in this world of junk food Hollywood. We saw the trailers for this movie and immediately knew we had to go. Loving Vincent is a full length, fully oil painted feature film. The work is painted by artists in the style of the movie’s namesake, Vincent Van Gogh. If you like the great painters, especially Vincent Van Gogh, this is a must-see. Painted by 115 artists, each of the 65,000 frames is an oil painting on canvas. It truly is a work of love as well as a work of art.

The story is also poignant, and contains the story of the common soul. This is probably why, interestingly enough, the voice-actors all speak in a scruffy Scottish accent - not the sophisticated English accent that would be expected in a artsy film. The film focuses on the circumstances and journey of Vincent’s life and paints the artist as one who was always unable to fully connect in a world that is already disconnected with itself.

And yet, he was always passionate in that quest. It seems that the deepest connection he was able to achieve was through his paintings. After failing to “succeed” in life in the varied vocations of art dealer, school teacher and missionary he started drawing and painting at 27. In the final decade of his life, Vincent produced 2,100 works. 860 of these were oil paintings and most of them were completed in his last two years.

His relationships were as varied as his attempts at vocations and ranged from stormy to brooding. Again, Van Gogh always seemed to be struggling to connect - be that connection with people, himself or occupations. But the level of his passion to connect seemed intense (which is probably why his best means of connection was with the canvas). I believe that intensity may have gotten in the way, causing others to turn away instead of responding. In the end, it seems he gave up on all but his artwork. For at least the canvas would not leave him unrequited.

Isn’t that the story of all our lives, though? We are all searching to connect in a deep way. What that connection looks like is as variegated as the rainbow. And how we succeed is as subtle and diverse and tinted as the shadows in the early blues of morning. Some of us connect with others. Some of us connect with things. Some of us cannot succeed in connecting at all.

But can anyone truly claim to have connected to the extent that lies in the fabric of our being’s quest? In this world, the best that any of us can do is settle for something less than what we know should be. Whatever we get is the best that we can get. But it’s never enough, this side of the veil.

And in Vincent’s settling, the world suffered loss.

Enoch's Vein

take this, and all i know
and show me the other side
i're clom te fri'e
sair re tei

there's a greening beyond these walls
as i lean in to You
may i fall through this crimson veil
and follow the way of Enoch's vein

- revel8r, 10-21-17

Painted Sand and Lands of Life

a painted desert is still but painted.
yet green are streams that flow
by life revealed and show
that life is more than glass and tinted dust
on the other side of these ephemeral shores

- revel8r 10/21/17

With Us in the Dance

Immanuel, know us in this dance
the days are long
and pass by before we know
like fire on dry grass
yet You remain our Great Friend
Lord and King

Immanuel, know us in the pain
in dirt and death
in love and breath
and moments in between
for we are changed when You reveal us here
where the atmosphere is found in You

Immanuel...

- revel8r 10.14.2017

Let It Be

til Kingdom come the thunder rolls
might be, some shine in the sounding
peace, then, is not so gentle as it seems
let it be, let it be
for He is the Author, and will finish the same

as these mountains remain unchanged
so holds His foundations through time
and the rhyme of Love eternally tended
is the song of waves upon the tide
let it be, let it be
for He is the Author
and will finish the same

- revel8r 7/2011

Water on the Altar

He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.” “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again. “Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed...

-- 1 Kings 18:33-36

What would you pray?  Knowing that I'm outnumbered by 450 wicked guys, I would have prayed the most desperate and eloquent prayer ever:  Oh dear sovereign Lord...

HELP! HELLLP! HAALLLPPP!

But Elijah, being much more secure and confident in his God than I am, at least currently, basically said "OK God.  Show 'em what Ya got!."  And God burned a very soggy altar to ashes.

It was soggy because Elijah wanted those present to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was indeed a miracle, and not the cause of something natural or even coincidental.

So it is in our lives, when we're seeking God for a miracle but it only seems to be getting worse. Consider it water on the altar until the breakthrough comes, and hold strong in Your confidence of His might!

Everybody Can Recognize Him

He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

-- Daniel 3:25

When Jesus shows himself, it is inherent in the soul of His creation to recognize Jesus.  We can attempt to explain or describe Him, but in the end, we can all recognize Him.  It's what we do with that recognition that matters.

Some shrug their shoulders.  Some run in fear.  But some have hearts that burn when they see Him and cannot look away.

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

-- Luke 24:30-32 

Friends, don't look away.  Let your hearts burn with His passion!

Torrents of Peace

come reign in my body
for You reign in my soul

Your love is a strong and easy stream
flowing in the desert
running easy
through the veins in my soul

His majesty rains in the torrents
His glory overwhelms the land

His children hail the King
and dwell in peace
on the day of labor pains

some dwell in shelters
fashioned of wood and plaster
but we rest in the shadow of His gaze

He is grace
     in the face of trial
He is beauty
     in dreadful light of coming terror
He is refuge
     when waters of chaos roar

the earth is the Lord's
and we won't be overcome

- revel8r, 8/26-9/8/17

This Glory Does More Than Shine

'If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!'

2 Corinthians 3:9

When Moses met with the Ancient of Days, he soaked in a presence that clung to his skin, yet passed no further in. Without the reconciliation of Christ, the glory of the Lord could do no more. As such, it brought condemnation - declaring to all that this glory all belonged to Yhwh and humanity could partake of none of it. Thus it both revealed and declared condemnation to all who beheld the face of Moses; God is glorious and mankind is not and never the two shall meet.

Yet through Christ’s salvation this glory can enter in beyond our skin. It abides within and brings His righteousness. And even though it doesn’t “glow in the dark” to the mortal eyes, it brings a glory of infinite more value. For this glory transforms the dead soul, and thus the veil is lifted from both our minds and our hearts.

God's Grandeur

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs—
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

-- Gerard Manley Hopkins

Be Holy

“For I am Yahweh, who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God, so you must be holy because I am holy.”

Leviticus 11:45

For us as followers of Christ, holiness is the consecration of our lives in service to God. I would submit that consecration, or the state of being “set apart” to service Him is to be who he made you to be. And in being who he made you to be, we are charged to be pure and undefiled in living that calling. Are you an artist? Pursue it with passion. Are you a writer? Are you a pilot? A mother? A father? A caregiver?

Holiness is not an antiseptic thing. It’s not a blinding white beam that sears the skin of our soul. Holiness is being pure and unadulterated in giving glory to the Creator in the state of being who we are. And sin is manifested, then, if we live outside those boundaries.

We bear His image, and as believers in Christ we have been liberated to live that image. So know this as a declaration over you: be holy, for He is holy.

-- revel8r 8/20/17

NK III

like a brute beast
he wanders his lands
that he usurped from the King

the ghost of Nebuchadnezzar haunts his mind
and blindness guides his day

but the Ghost most holy
will lift the veil of his insanity
and reveal there is no king but Jesus

then remain, not simply alive
but whole, and testify
He is your King

choose now, or perish in the day

-- revel8r 8/13/17

NK II

hear then, the whirlwind approaches
with the sound of weeping
and wailing will win the day
the mourning will carry through the night

but then the dove
will land on your sill
at dawn's early light
that faithfulness will taste so sweet

this reign has fallen
on the just and the unjust
but Jesus comes in the darkest hour
and that iron yolk will shatter at last

- revel8r 8/11/17

NK I

He broods His wings
over lands of silent shadow, yet knows
with mourning, yearning soul
to set these captives free

then open these burdened gates
with light that overwhelms and overcomes
that the River will yet run through her
with echoes of laughter

- revel8r 4/29/17

Haunt Me Sweetly

You are majesty
You are compassion incarnate
You are Trinity
Father, Son and the Ghost that haunts my soul 

Haunt me sweetly, then
That i may imbibe Your holiness
for nothing, now, will remain as it was

- revel8r 6/5/17

Maiden Voyage

Over the years, I've learned to never say never.  There's a reason why it's a cliche.  I think a lot of other people have learned never to say never as well.  When we say we'll never do this thing or that thing, we often end up doing this or that.

Maybe that's one of the reasons why Jesus told us never to say never Himself.  (Matthew 5:34)  We end up exasperating ourselves by the oaths that we break as much as we exasperate others.

I've said I'd never attend a specific church,,, and ended up loving that very church for about 3 years.

I've said I'd never work at a specific job,,, and ended up working there.  It turned out to be the best job I'd ever had.

I've said I'd never blog,,, and here I am.

Funny how those things work.  One day I'm telling my wife I have no interest in blogging.  I have no interested in writing postings to something that I have little interest in following myself.  Quite frankly I have not followed a single blog in my quinquagenarian life. I love reading Mike Rowe's posts - once in a great while.  But I certainly wouldn't say I'm following his blog!

And then a few months later, I'm casting about for a good, deep, solid devotional.  Maybe I'm a bit jaded with my own self.  I don't know.  But it had been, it seemed, eons since I had had a good mind blowing revelation.  So I ask Father to show me a devotional to read.

And He responds, "Why don't you write your own devotional?"

Now, when the Wisest One asks you a question, it's not because He doesn't know the answer.

So here I am, writing my own devotional.  Depositing nuggets and dropping verses along the way.

And hoping that they will pay it forward into your own souls.

Bon Voyage to all of us!

Revel8R